Phillies out to solve lefty Sanchez in Game Two

They've struggled in two outings against the Giants starter this year. Meanwhile, Roy Oswalt looks to bounce back from a subpar outing against Cincinnati.

October 17, 2010|By Jeff Schuler OF THE MORNING CALL

PHILADELPHIA — On Aug. 19, San Francisco was on the verge of being swept out of Citizens Bank Park when Jonathan Sanchez silenced the Phillies bats on one hit over eight shutout innings, leaving after allowing a leadoff single in the ninth in an eventual 5-2 win that avoided a Phillies sweep of the weekend series.

That started a season-ending run by the 27-year-old left-hander during which he allowed just 28 hits over 51 innings, going 5-1 with a 1.94 ERA over his last nine starts including five shutout innings of three-hit pitching in the season-ending win over San Diego that clinched the Western Division title.

"Great game he threw the last day here," said Giants manager Brian Bochy, who shifted his rotation for the National League Championship Series so Sanchez will pitch Game Two Sunday night here. "We were fighting from getting swept and he stepped up. And really, it was indicative of how he pitched form that point on with the big games that he pitched in, and the poise that he showed, including the last game of the season against San Diego."

The Phillies, who dropped Game One of the series 4-3 Saturday night, have struggled against Sanchez over the last two years, managing just 10 hits and five runs with 28 strikeouts in 25 2/3 innings over four starts. In two starts this year Sanchez has allowed just five hits and two runs with 13 strikeouts in 14 innings.

"They're hard to pitch to but I'm just going to go out there and throw my pitches and make them swing the bat," Sanchez said.

Bochy flip-flopped Sanchez and Matt Cain from the rotation he used in the N.L. Division Series win over Atlanta."It's really just to break up the right-handers [Game One starter Tim Lincecum and Cain] as much as anything," Bochy said.

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel decided to stick with the same rotation he used in the NLDS sweep over Cincinnati. That puts Roy Oswalt, the only one of the Phillies H-2-O trio who struggled against the Reds, on the mound Sunday night when the Phillies try to even the series at a game each before it shifts out West.

Oswalt allowed four runs in five innings in Game Two against the Reds, although the Phillies rallied to take a 7-4 victory.

"As long as we win games, numbers to me are not a big thing," Oswalt said of that start. "I want to do well, but we won three in a row, so it doesn't really matter."

Oswalt beat the Giants in the opener of that three-game series back in August, allowing six hits and three runs over seven innings. But he also lost to San Francisco three times while wearing a Houston uniform before the trade, although is ERA was a solid 3.15 in 20 innings.

"I expect to see a pitcher that I've seen over the years that's very tough with great stuff," Bochy said of his team facing Oswalt. "We know how good he is ÃÆÃâÃâÃâ¦he's one of the best and we know it."

Oswalt, acquired in a deadline deal with Houston, has obviously blended in well in a rotation that includes a former Cy Young Award winner (and current candidate) in Roy Halladay and a former World Series MVP in Cole Hamels.

""It's going to make you pick up your game," Oswalt said. "In Houston, I went through a couple of years where I felt like I was kind of out there by yourself, an no one really pushes you like these guys do. These guys push you to the max. I got to do that in '04 through '06 with two Hall of Fame pitchers. And if these guys keep going the way they're going, they're going to be in the same boat as Roger [Clemens] and Andy [Pettitte]."

Oswalt said having Halladay and Hamels eases some of the burden he felt in Houston since Clemens and Pettitte moved on.

"Sometimes when you're slotted the ace you feel like you have to win every game," he said. "You feel like you out there and lose a game, you let your team down for another four games until you get back out there. With these guys, you feel if you lose the game, you're disappointed no doubt, but you feel like the next two games you're going to win."

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said it's easy to be spoiled by the performance of his three aces this year.

"Let me tell you something guys, they're human," he said. "I mean, they're going to give up some runs some time. If they don't, we're going to be looking really good. Like I said before, I was joking about how long I wanted to manage. But if they don't give up no runs, it's hard to tell when I might ÃÆÃâÃâÃâ¦ how long I might stay here."

Welcome back: Pat Burrell returned to Citizens Bank Park in the middle of the Giants lineup. Aaron Rowland returned as a spare part with the emergence of leadoff hitter Andres Torres.

"That's probably the toughest part of the job, is when you have to tell a veteran that' used to being out there every day that his role is going to change," Bochy said of Rowland, adding that the hard-nosed center fielder took the news in stride. "Did not become any kind of distraction, [just] kept doing his work."

Burrell, signed after being released by Tampa Bay, hit .266 with 18 homers in 96 games.

"We were in a win-win situation in signing him," Bochy said, giving Burrell credit for briefly going to Triple-A Fresno to prove himself. "He came here really to be a pinch-hitter off the bench, but it was evident, once he got some playing time, that he should be there [every day]."